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It took me a year to get Suki to eat right, i did all the wrongs things, hand fed her, gave her nice treats, added to her meals and all it resulted in was a fussy little moo who wouldnt eat and was underweight. BUT then I got tough, I was strict with the meals, the times and not leaving food down, I banned all treats and titbits and did not veer from this,
she didn't eat a thing for a week - I was tearing my hair out even crying!!! whilst she was just prancing around waiting for hand outs!!!
but after 2 weeks she gave in and ever since she eats 2 good sized meals of just dog food(kibble) and nothing else.
I will occassionally add to her food as a treat but if she turns her nose up at the next meal which she does at times - i take it straight up and she gets nothing till the next meal is due even if thats not till the following morning!!!

Its hard work especially when your convinced that they will starve to death but its worth it and it will iron out in the end if you stick to your guns

Good Luck
and as Karlin said if your really struggling speak to the rescue for you

okay i think i have answers now. at the farm she would have been fed fallen stock. which i presume is old animals that have died. at the rescue she was fed burns that had boiling water poured over and meat added.
so all she is used to eating is plain old meat. they also suggested that she might not be eating as she is the only dog here. they said see if you can find a friend with a dog to pal up.
or adopt another cav. i darent suggest this to hubby lol.

Mommy to Pepper the Guinea-Pig, Adoring fan of Peaches the Blenheimhttp://cirenscall.misi.co.uk/
http://www.folksy.com/shops/Ciren

Izzy was terribly fussy. He would go for up to four days, eating only a Bonio, but the vet said he was healthy and that no healthy dog would starve. Eventually he did eat, but he had a preference for tinned (butchers) and biscuit, so that is what he mainly got. As he got older and we added Joly, then Teddy, he became much less fussy and tucked in quickly.

Monty who has never been greedy, is getting a little fussy in his later years. he doesn't always finish a bowl of complete, unless there are a few spoonsfull on tinned mixed in-no problem.

Well, that is pretty weird advice, to borrow a dog or get another one. Oh well. I don't really think she can possibly only have been fed fallen stock, all the time. Most puppy farm operations couldn't rely on only fallen animals -- they'd have to be supplementing that with commercial food. No one has that many fallen animals unless they have serious animal husbandry problems!

Stick with only feeding on schedule and if she doesn't eat for a week, she doesn't eat for a week. She WILL definitely eat if she has been eating Burns before. She would almost surely eat it even if she hasn't eaten it before -- most dogs are truly not that fussy and I've rotated more than 70 dogs onto various foods with no problems. Just give her some time and space.

But please, if you are really worried about taking on a dog and worried about finances, do have a serious think as this is a very long term commitment. Eating is really only a very minor matter compared to the broader and long term commitments required of a dog owner. As you raised these issues yourself in your original post, those are the ones I was encouraging you to discuss seriously with the rescue. They are far more important than the feeding questions.

Most dogs in a new situations get dodgy tummies and wont eat. I was told Jassy was a really fussy eater and there was only one type of dog food he would eat. For the first few weeks I worried as he wouldnt always eat but he never starved and soon learned when was meal times.
Try not to worry I know it is not always easy when you want to be feeding them a healthy diet.

What are you feeding her? If it is kibble, are her teeth ok as if it is not moistened and she has bad teeth it may be uncomfortable.

her teeth seem fine but i will ask the vet when i see them to take her stiches out. i am not worried about the financial side but i will admit to having confidence problems. i suspect it might have something to do with my period coming soon (sorry to any men posting)

we just came back from walkies, i decided to see if she was as bad outside as she is in the back garden. she wasn't she kept going from one side to another and trying to tie me in knots but her tail never stopped wagging and she seemed to enjoy it. now i know that i will be walking her alot more so hopefully that will make her hungry.

thank you guys i know i may come across as someone who won't be a good owner but its just me wanting to be sure she gets the best treatment. i think she is fond of me as she follows he around the house and likes to sit by me for cuddles.

Mommy to Pepper the Guinea-Pig, Adoring fan of Peaches the Blenheimhttp://cirenscall.misi.co.uk/
http://www.folksy.com/shops/Ciren

Hang in there. Hopefully she will start eating soon. She is probably still getting her bearings.

Maybe what the rescue centre meant was that a bit of competition would make her eat which is possibly true. Our Cassie was a very picky eater and wouldn't eat for days at a time but as soon as Honey came along it was a different story .

I know this isn't very helpful but I'm sure she will settle down soon and feel comfortable enough to eat. If she doesn't then you really should talk to your vet. Good luck and let us know how she gets on

Sorry but I haven't had time to read all the previous posts so forgive me if I duplicate what anyone else has already said.

I can only speak from my own experience with a rescue so here goes. When Minnie came to us we were told that she would only eat chicken
I gave her chicken the first night just so she would not go hungry. Next day I put her Burns dry nuts in her "new" food dish and she would not eat it. I, like you, felt very upset and wondered what I was doing wrong and if I was capable of looking after a rescue dog at all Then, logic kicked in; I realised that if Minnie put her head into the food dish, she would not be able to see what was going on around her and I figured this made her feel very nervous SO I put her food on a flat plate and made sure that she was away from doors etc. In other words she was in a safe corner of the kitchen and she could see everything going on around her. It worked and she ate but it took time and as I said in an earlier post, Cara came to us a couple of weeks later and Minnie realised that if she didn't eat her food out of her bowl - Cara would
Try her with a plate or saucer or anything flat and see if it helps but do take it up after the fifteen minutes and I'm sure that she will eat it when she gets hungry enough. Don't despair In a few weeks you'll be complaining about what a little beggar she's turned into

Claire Once owned by Rudeepoohs
then rescued by CaraMia and Minnie Moo.
Missing all my girls every day....

And, sometimes it can be overwhelming having your first dog--I definitely felt like that when I first got Oliver as a 12-week old puppy. I made lots of mistakes and did lots of things wrong, but once I knew better, I did better! I don't worry nearly as much now was when I first got him. Just give it time--for you and her to settle in! Good luck!

I agree with Claire . I doubt if Peaches knows what a food bowl is. I would imagine it was a free-for-all in her previous environment, where she may have had to compete for food, or it was just chucked into her living accommodation (whatever that might have been).

I've been there so many times. It is so stressful when a dog doesn't eat (or drink), but keep strong as you are doing and it will work out. Sooner or later she will become very hungry. You need to stick to your guns to prevent problems in future.

Did the rescue do a dental whilst she was spayed? If this was the case, she could be really sore still. Bradley came from the same rescue, and he'd had a dental at the same time as he was neutered.

Good luck.

Proud member of The Spaniel Trust - putting the trust back into spaniels.
A Charity registered in Scotland SC038987